Troodon
TRO-oh-don
Troodon is a small, meat-eating dinosaur of the Troodon genus with long, thin legs that enable it to reach high speeds when chasing prey. Its name is Greek for ‘wounding tooth’, in reference to its sharp incisors, while this theropod’s large eyes allow it to hunt in the dark. Troodon’s large brain for its size – it stands at just over three feet tall – makes it one of the most intelligent dinosaurs.
Discovery
Initially classed as a lizard when it was first discovered by American paleontologist Joseph Leidy in 1855, Troodon was officially reclassified as a dinosaur in 1901 by fellow prehistorian Franz Nopcsa. Leidy unearthed the first Troodon fossil – a tooth with serrated edges – at the Judith River Formation in Montana, the location of a huge number of paleontological discoveries.
Palaeoecology
Troodon first existed around 65-75 million years ago, during the Late Cretaceous period. Fossil discoveries in Northern Alaska suggest that this dinosaur may have preferred a cold climate, although teeth believed to have belonged to Troodon have been found as far south as Texas and New Mexico.
Information
- Era
- Late Cretaceous
- Family
- Troodontidae
- Genus
- Troodon
- Height
- 1M
- Length
- 2.5M
- Weight
- 35Kg
- Diet
- Carnivore, Live Prey
- Egg batch size
- 2 - 6
